LesserEvil:The snail thing is funny, because I was just reading about that in an issue of Fortean Times from a few months ago.

I don't quite understand how knights fighting a losing battle to snails represents the Resurrection of Lazarus.

It doesn't. At least not necessarily. The theories behind the symbolism of the snail thing are far and wide, and nonne of them are definitive. Some are heavily symbolic - rich(snail) vs poor(knight), scribe(knight) vs tedious writing/boredom(snail). Others are..well, quite literal. Knight(gardener) vs snail(snail).

A lot of these would be marginalia added by later students bored, sexually repressed and hounded by the strict disciplinarian monks and would represent the only form of rebellion they had available, others... well strap anyone to a copyists table with torch or candlelight for extended periods subsisting on small beer and lentil soup and see what horrors crawl out of their minds

TV's Vinnie:"At General Mills, we pick our dicks at the peak of flavor so that your Bowl of Dicks is the freshest"[img.gawkerassets.com image 640x392]I think it's the Medieval version of The Lorax, but with penis trees.

Then you should have written the article, because the knuckle dragger at i09 who had that task sucked.

Many are allegorical. We just don't keep track of their meanings today (or, at least, the general population doesn't). Think of them as memes. If you know the backstory, it makes perfect sense - sans that particular bit of knowledge, and it is just some picture of a cartoonish redheaded guy squinting.

For instance, medieval Europeans thought pelicans (which are almost never shown with the beak pouch) stabbed themselves in the heart to feed their young. It was seen as metaphor for the crucifixion of Christ. So, when you or I see the image, we go 'WTF is up with the suicide-cannibal birds!", but to the medieval reader it is just a way to remind them of Jesus. What is bad is when the explanation has been lost. No one knows why the hell there are an abundance of snail v knight images. Obviously, for a couple hundred years, this was deeply meaningful to illuminators, because it keeps cropping up - but no one today knows why.